Blatant self-promotion time. You ready?I am a finalist for the Loft Literary Center’s Mentor Series. What is this, you ask? We-he-hell. Every year the Loft chooses twelve emerging writers (four poets, four fiction writers, and four non-fiction writers) to work with six mentors (two for each genre) in small weekend residencies throughout the year. This year’s poetry mentors are off the charts. Patricia Smith and Matt Rasmussen are both National Book Award finalists, professors, and just all around wunderkinds. Decisions come out around July 20th, so keep your fingers crossed for me! And, whether or not I make it, the series puts on readings throughout the year, so stay tuned for those!

The Loft is just a fantastic organization, and they put on a bunch of different readings, including Equilibrium, a series dedicated to promoting the work of artists of color. Keep up with all of their goings-on here: https://www.loft.orgAnd if you want to see me and mine performing before we head off to Oakland for the National Poetry Slam, we’ll be having a music slam on July 22, and an All-City Slam showdown on July29, at Kieran’s Irish Pub. Hope to see you around!